Two days later, the five ship fleet reduced into three, with the two caravels following behind returning to the Aegean seas after escorting them a little bit further than the original destination. They spent one more day at the seas after that and reached the city of Chania. Captain bought supplies that would last for the next three weeks and it seemed he didn’t have any intention to get the ship checked. ‘’I would rather suffer the risk of the vessel getting damaged rather than get caught up in a fight.’’

But things didn’t work as he intended. The morning after their arrival and filling the ship, one of the household guards got into a fight with locals. He escaped into a caravel but the group beating him followed, wrecking the railings and almost bringing down the rightmost sail with their axes. Çetin Pasha threw off the household guard from the ship and caught the attackers with the rest of the crew, Captain sliced the hands of the two men trying to get the sails down. City authorities stood silent.

As a result, Captain’s suspicion seemed half-proven, so Baybur talked about the matter to incensed Çetin Pasha. The man’s rather pale complexion brightened at the danger, which made Baybur feel like he made a mistake. Nevertheless, nothing happened through their stay and they left five days after with some extra arrows and a hired physician, who cost them a sizeable sum.

Now they were near the intersection between Ionian and Mediterranean seas, and their path seemed to prove no further trouble.

Until the barrelman cried out in the second day of their departure.

*********

‘’CAPTAIN!’’ While the sun tried to rise in the air near the dawn, the shout of the barrelman shook the whole ship.

Baybur shot up to his feet from his bed and clutched his sword from the side, in his front the household guards also awakened from their slumbers with shock in their eyes.

‘’Leader?’’ Mustafa was the first, as always, to rise and look at him.

‘’Grab your weapons and come over the deck, quick.’’ Baybur barked at them and rushed to the door, flung it open, then ran towards the deck entrance. He heard the confused grumbles behind him and the steps of the rising men, then he stepped outside.

The first thing he saw was Çetin Pasha standing near the railings, watching the left side. He already donned his gowns and grasped his sword, a quiver and bow hung on his back. Following his trail, and in the meantime approaching him, Baybur saw the blurry shadows of ships at the horizon. There were five at the first look and he wasn’t sure if there were any more.

‘’Get on the cannons, I don’t care if they are friend or foe!’’ Captain now came into sight, crashing the door of his study with a kick, ‘’If they get past our range or even move their bow towards us, we shoot!’’

Following the sounds of footsteps, Baybur turned around to see the few men of the crew getting to wherever they were needed. Six of them climbed up the ladder leading to the upper deck, where stood the sole cannon of the cog ship, while Captain himself came beside them.

‘’Did the other two see them?’’ Baybur asked.

‘’Even if they didn’t hear me or others,’’ Captain said, ‘’They will move once we get on the cannons.’’

Indeed, it happened as captain said. The ships following behind them suddenly picked up more speed and flanked them, one at the right on at the left. From their decks two ship captains waved at the captain, he made some hand gestures to them in response. After receiving what they seemed to want, the ships passed them and lined up in front of the cog ship like a snake. Baybur saw at least forty men each on their board, and three cannons on either side with bowmen behind them.

‘’Why did I even got this right,’’ Captain muttered, then turned to look at Baybur, ‘’Where are your entourage, brother Baybur?’’

‘’They should come soon-’’ Baybur said, understanding the man’s intent. ‘’Though I wonder, can we not outrun them?’’

‘’Baybur,’’ Çetin pasha replied instead, ‘’If we could, they wouldn’t be here at all. But with the speed of Cog we might be able to run if things go awry.’’

‘’That is not something I would prefer,’’ Captain said.

‘’I agree,’’ Çetin pasha nodded.

Soon the few sleepy ones also came to the deck, fully armed with their weapons, and armor under their brownish gowns. They came behind Çetin pasha and stood upright, waiting for any orders to be delivered.

‘’What shall we do, captain?’’ Baybur asked. Though it might have seemed like he gave the control of the order chain to the Captain, and he indeed did, and ignored Çetin Pasha’s qualifications, it was clear that the experienced captain would know better than the both.

‘’If they are skilled with sword, let them wait under the cover there-’’ He pointed at the battlement-like corners of the cog ship, each large enough to accommodate seven to eight men and shield from any projectile except cannonballs. ‘’If they use bows, then get on the upper deck or take cover on here, though it won’t do much.’’ Indeed, the railings came slightly above the waist and couldn’t shield from much, but it was better than nothing.

‘’If they can’t do both, let them help carry cannonballs and arrows from the storage.’’

Baybur turned to look at the household guards. Under his gaze each took wherever they felt more comfortable. Neither Baybur nor Çetin pasha said anything, though they didn’t know much about the skills of these men the limited knowledge still provided that where they took was according to their examinations.

Barrelman at the crow’s nest fell silent for some time, and with him the cog ship’s crew, but the shouts from the caravels at their front still reached their position. The tides calmed down for some time, droplets of water flew through the air at each impact of the waves, and the faint breathings of men surrounded their position.

‘’Captain!’’ Barrelman shouted at last, waving at them. ‘’Six ships, all cogs! Two of them have cannons at their bow!’’

‘’What are they doing?’’

‘’They...they are turning their bow towards us, the other four are rushing!’’

‘’Understood!’’ Captain said and took out a sword from the sheath on his belt. ‘’Get ready! Cannoneer, the moment they get into range blast through their seven generations!’’

‘’AS YOU WISH!’’

‘’My Pasha,’’ Captain turned to face Baybur and Çetin pasha, ‘’Watching from here is dangerous, if-’’

‘’Maybe, sir captain,’’ Çetin pasha interrupted, ‘’I, also, want to blast through their ancestors. And I doubt there is no one more capable than me here.’’

‘’I am also old, so I’m not good with emotions. So let me be.’’

‘’...as you wish.’’ Though he seemed willing, captain signaled Baybur with his hands. Meaning was easy to derive, but from what he heard about Çetin pasha even Baybur doubted his ability to pull the old man from the battle to safety.

‘’The ships are getting closer!’’ Barrelman shouted, and everyone’s attention now turned back to the incoming ships. Rather than a hazy blur, the polished wood of the vessels now flashed their brilliance to them.

‘’Fresh made,’’ Captain assessed at a moment’s notice. Following where he looked, Baybur saw the two cogs at the back with their bows pointed towards them. ‘’They’ll be troublesome, but we should have no problem getting out of this.’’

‘’Without any scratch?’’ One of the household guards asked, he had a long bow in his grasp already nocked with a feathered arrow.

‘’Expect death, a stray cannon or an arrow will take your life in an instant if you are unlucky. The physician can only do so much with limited supplies.’’ Baybur responded in captain’s stead. He had experience with battles, and most of them gruesome failures, including the time he gained the grace of Sultan. So he knew what to expect for the worse.

‘’Rather than talking, get ready.’’ Çetin pasha said. The few men that took positions now closed their lips and awaited the arrival of the clash. Two minutes passed, the ships drew nearer, and their appearance now laid in front of them with no obstruction.

This also meant they were now at the edge of the cannon range.

‘’Take cover-’’ Captain said, then turned his head.

At the exact instant a deafening boom sounded on the upper deck, followed by six more from the front. Blurs of seven balls flew through the air and left trails of smoke behind them, put hundreds of meters between the cannon and themselves in a matter of seconds, then landed on one of the incoming cog ships.

A cluster of wood exploded in multiple points, one ball crashed onto the bow and smashed the sole visible man at the deck, another smashed onto one of the two sails and broke it in half, the others all missed.

Right before they could shake off the shock of the sounds, a sharp whistle echoed in the air. Baybur ducked his head the moment he heard the sound and grasped the shoulder of the man closest to him, forcing him to stand down.

Then the whistle turned into a booming bang, sharaphnel exploded behind them. Stinging pieces of timber shot into air, while under the sharp noise the crunch of something being mangled echoed.

‘’Oh damn!’’ Captain shouted, ‘’Who got hit there?’’

They all turned around to see two household guards as meat pastes, rather than standing up with their bows. ‘’That is some nasty scene,’’ Çetin Pasha looked for once, then retracted his gaze. ‘’But don’t mind much.’’

They did. The four other household guards that survived with bare centimeters paled at the sight, yet their hands still clasped the bows’ grips. But it stood clear that they feared what happened.

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‘’Did the other one miss?’’ Baybur rose from his position, next to him the guard he saved still laid under the cover of the railings.

‘’It seems so,’’ Captain said, then turned his attention to the man next to Baybur,’’ You, go check the physician for me. Stay next to him.’’

‘’Ye-yes!’’ The guard shot to his feet and rushed off, he flung the door open as if he would break it down and disappeared into the inner quarters.

‘’Ugh-’’ Captain shook his head and focused on the incoming enemy. ‘’Three minutes for another volley, but it seems insufficient.’’

‘’Indeed...’’

*********

The ships now seemed to rush towards them. The moment caravels’ and cog ship’s cannon loaded up and fired, the remaining three vessels at the front reached hundred meters near. Instead of aiming at them, though, the caravels’ rounds flew over them and struck one of the cannon present cog ships. The deck of the ship shattered into pieces and started sinking before the eyes of many, and the paled faces of the guards now regained some color.

‘’Bowmen, get ready!’’ Captain shouted, ‘’Ten seconds, Nine, Eight...’’

Çetin Pasha also took out his bow and nocked an arrow at an insane speed, his calloused hands seemed unaffected at the forceful action. The others behind prepared too, they pulled the strings with full power and aimed at the forefront ship. On the deck of the leading ship stood some fifteen men. Except two, they all had bows as well.

‘’Three, two, one, release!’’

The shrill whistles of the arrows passed by their ears and rose into the clear sky, winds fell silent at their rush, then the heads descended with their tips pointed at the enemy.

Two struck, others all missed.

This time the enemy released their arrows at full power, the strikes from before didn’t took any of the bowmen, alas. The tips rose into the air as well and descended on them. They tried to shield themselves with the railings but the arrows still pierced through the shoulders of a guard. From the upper deck, a sharp scream followed.

‘’Cannoneer is wounded!’’ One of the crew members shouted.

‘’Take him inside, there are no uses left for cannons!’’ Captain yelled at them and turned his attention back to the incoming ship-ships. The remaining three all steered their vessels towards them, and on their bow stood bowmen with arrows nocked, ready.

‘’Another volley, release!’’

The guards released their arrows once more while the distance shrank, now there were only forty meters between two ships. The enemy cog ship made a sudden maneuver and tilted to the side, approaching them from a transverse. ‘’They want to board, men, get your sabres and swords!’’

The arrows fell with the captain’s orders, this time they claimed three men. Çetin Pasha’s arrow pierced the mouth of one of the bowmen, other two took them to the stomach.

The distance became closer, now ten meters. While the guards took their yatagans out of their sheaths, another sharp whistle echoed in the air. The cog ship with cannon reminded its existence to the diplomatic envoy again.

‘’Bluergh!-’’ Baybur saw Mustafa get crushed under the cannonball beside him, his body sunk into the deck with the round stone and exploded into a mass of blood.

‘’They are on us!’’

He didn’t spare an extra glance, instead Baybur wrapped his hands around the handle of his sword and focused on the deck of the enemy ship. They all had dropped their bows and now grasped sabers in their hands. They had no clothes except yellowish trousers, reminiscent of middle-eastern loose textiles, and even their dark skins pointed at the same culture.

‘’HYAAAH!’’

‘’KHAAAAAGH!’’

Shouts rose from the remaining dozen men, now only two steps distance away from them. The railings almost touched each other and their eyes met with the enemies.

‘’KUAA-BREH!’’ The first man to make the move jumped to their deck, then fell with a gruesome scream. An arrow had pierced his neck and flew out of his nape, leaving a bloody hole. His body tumbled down, blood flowed on his stomach, then he slipped down to the sea. A big plop later he disappeared from the sight.

The mood froze for a moment, then shouts rose from their deck. Çetin Pasha still had his bow in hand and nocked another arrow, aimed at the incoming enemies.

‘’Get those bastards!’’ Captain shouted, cheers rose behind him, and they leaped towards their enemies.

‘’HAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!’’ Several men jumped on their neck and started swinging their sabres towards them. Baybur received a burly african’s saber with his yatagan, his arm slightly pushed back the man to the railings. From his left, however, another saber swung and tried to take his neck.

‘’Back down!’’ Captain intervened, his own sword blocked the sword with a clang, then slipped from the handle to the ambusher’s forearm. He cut off a neat piece all the way to his elbow and kicked the man down.

The burly man in front of Baybur, however, stood unfazed and lunged towards him at the chance. Baybur blocked the saber again, then he tried to strangle the weapon from the man’s wrist. It proved unsuccessful, the burly man had greater strength and pushed his hand off, then swung again.

Baybur took a step back and slashed, the impact send a series of itches through his arm, but the strike didn’t cease. With shouts and screams in front and behind, he forced forward and swung towards the man’s belly. The african man moved to block but Baybur suddenly foregone the attack. He flung himself to the man’s chest and crashed his shoulder onto the burly man.

A crack sounded, the man spewed blood out of his mouth. Baybur followed with another slash to the shoulder and cut off the burly man’s sword holding arm, his right hand flew behind to the now reddened sea. The blood drained out of the man’s body in frenzy and he stumbled down face first, left to die.

Baybur took two steps back from the chaos to see what happened, his eyes shrank at the sight.

Çetin Pasha didn’t have his bow anymore, instead he held a yatagan and clashed with a foe. The man didn’t last three seconds as Çetin Pasha’s first strike sent him flying to the ground, the second to the underworld. Around Çetin Pasha was two more corpses, and they all had the same wound in the heart, a straight stab. Çetin Pasha turned to look at Baybur once he finished and smiled.

Baybur felt his scalp tingle.

‘’Another one coming!’’

Right as the chaos seemed to die, another ship approached them. On its deck was twenty men, all armed with sabers as well, and from its back another ship followed, also loaded with twenty men.

‘’What are those two caravels doing!?’’ Baybur shouted and rushed forward again, the second ship crashed onto the first one to take some space. Once they got near the enemies started boarding and the precarious situation took a turn for the worse. Baybur ran beside the Captain and blocked the cut of a foe, the Captain followed with a stab and pierced the neck of the enemy, then pulled his sword out. Gurgling with blood in his mouth, the opponent took three steps back and crashed onto the railings, his body fell down from the deck.

‘’That is what they are doing, HAHAH!’’ Captain started roaring with laughter and pointed his finger forward. Baybur looked and his jaw dropped.

Of the two caravels one of them started rushing to the incoming third ship with its bow pointed at the deck, the other started circling around their cog and pointed at the second ship trying to board. ‘’FIRE!’’ He heard a shout then a deafening boom.

Right before their eyes the second ship’s deck blew into smithereens, of the twenty men only few boarded before they turned into raw pieces of flesh. Sharaphnel followed the strike and pierced through one more man before the cog started sinking.

‘’Let’s go!’’ Captain shouted and leaped forward to the enemies. The moment he came near a foe he swung his sword and cut down the man’s left leg, then the household guard near him stabbed through the man’s stomach. He pinned down the enemy while captain ran to another opponent.

Another battle freak... Baybur shook his head and followed the lead, Çetin Pasha appeared beside him to rush, too.

They both ran and slashed towards a man with tanned skin. Surprisingly he ducked from their blows and sliced towards Baybur’s belly, laughing. Baybur stepped back to evade and slashed again, Çetin Pasha in the meantime stabbed to the tan skinned man’s chest. The man ducked to the left and avoided Baybur’s slash, yet Çetin Pasha’s stab cut through his left shoulder and created a bloody trail. The man didn’t stop laughing.

‘’Would you look at that! HAHAHA!’’ Captain’s loud laugh approached them, then he himself appeared and swung his sword down on the tan skinned man.

‘’HAHAHAHAHA’’ Tan skinned man laughed, too, and blocked captain’s blow. Baybur tried his chance again, his sword slashed towards the man’s leg, and Çetin pasha struck the man’s back.

Tan skinned man pushed forward and sent captain’s sword flying with a slash, then lowered his back. Baybur’s slash created a scratch while Çetin Pasha missed, then tan skinned man turned back to them.

‘’HAHAHA!’’ He continued to laugh and lunged towards Çetin Pasha. Çetin Pasha smiled in response and started exchanging blows with the tan skinned man.

‘’Get the others!’’ He shouted, then his sword fell on the tan skinned man again. He blocked, then leaped towards Çetin Pasha with another slash of his saber.

Baybur nodded and went to the few household guards’ side. He saw one of them trapped by two enemies and rushed towards him. His loud footsteps got the attention of the opponents and one of them turned around. Baybur brandished his sword and brought the edge down to the man’s head.

The enemy forgone the household guard to his friend and waved his saber. His skill lacked tremendously, however, a testament to their difficulty at killing a lone man with two people, so Baybur managed to evade and grasped the wrist of the foe. He tugged, the man lost his footing and fell forward, then Baybur slashed down.

‘’BLUGH!-’’ He cut through the skull and the yatagan severed half the head and shoulder from the body. Blood splattered on him, yet Baybur didn’t even bother to look once more. He ganged up on the remaining man with the household guard and they stabbed the foe from the chest together.

Once the enemy dropped dead they rushed back to the last three men on the board, now cornered by five household guards and three crew members. They seemed the most persistent of all, and with their skills they seemed like they would hold on. But with two more addition they finally lost the balance. Baybur and three others slashed at the same time and turned one into mincemeat. They walked with heavy footsteps to the last one of the two and pierced through his limbs, then cut through them. Blood flowed like a river at this point, yet the last foe still managed to hold on.

He was the tan skinned man who clashed with captain and Çetin Pasha without any stop. He seemed to have endless stamina as he laughed and exchanged blows with the duo. Even Çetin Pasha started exhaling through his nose at this point and it seemed as if he had no more strength left.

But the remaining men arrived and they circled the tan skinned man, Çetin pasha and Captain pulled back from the circle. The ten men started taking faint steps forward with their swords pointed at the tan skinned man. They inched closer and closer, then at last the tan skinned man’s back pressed on one of the swords. They all stabbed together, blood spurted. The man turned into a shishkebab and fell down with a thud, lifeless.

‘’Haaah-’’ Baybur sighed and leaned on his sword for a moment, some others did the same.

‘’What about the other two?’’ Çetin Pasha asked, then all attention turned beyond the deck.

‘’Damn...’’

‘’Oh my...’’

The third ship was sinking into the sea with a humongous gap in the middle of its body, and the caravel from before was retreating back to its position.

‘’They really blasted through...’’ Baybur muttered.

Though the screams died off and the battle finished, another boom from the last caravel shook people awake from the serenity. In the distance, the last cog ship was retreating back after firing one last shot, which flew over their heads and disappeared into the sea behind. But as the cog ship turned around to swim away, the booming cannonballs reached its place. Of the three, two crashed onto the deck’s side and the last one broke the back sail into pieces. The collapse of the sail slowed down the ship and right as it took a turn, the second caravel fired shots.

Cannonballs flew in the air and pierced through the upper deck of the cog ship, the other two missed.

The broken cog ship found the chance and sailed away, leaving behind pieces of broken wood and ship parts. Faint breaths, gulps, sighs, then at last a loud shout.

‘’YEAAAAAAAAAAAAH!’’

Cheers exploded.

*********

The state of the ships were pretty good, captain said, and even though half of the deck’s surface collapsed nothing serious happened to the gifts they were bringing. Other two ships, in comparison, took almost no damage from the intentional strikes of the opposing force. Çetin Pasha took note of that, Baybur noticed.

Other than that they lost eight of the fourteen household guards and the cannoneer from the crew. Seven died in combat while cannoneer and household guards couldn’t survive beyond the treatment. When Çetin Pasha and others adamantly insisted on burying them on the land, Captain also agreed and they took a day of rest near the shores of an Albanian village. They departed no soon after and after two weeks and a half, the fleet of three ships managed to reach their destination.

Now stood before them the Republic Of Venice: Serenìsima Repùblica Vèneta